Minutes - Council - 01/08/2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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back to the Council for action. Ms. Kurak expressed, as she has before, that she will not and has not voted on anything having to do with her property. She believes that she is an ethical person and guaranteed everyone that if there is ever a vote that has to do with her property she would abstain. She stated that she has never done anything to make anyone think otherwise. Counci hnember Zimmerman inquired if she would include her husband's property as well. Councilmember Kurak replied yes. She stated that she was giving them her word. She explained that on December 11, 2001, she voted to send all 13 amendments to the public hearing not just one, because that was the right thing to do. Councilmember Hendriksen noted that the Council voted not to include Lutz Acres. He stated that on December 11, 2001, the Council was making a decision if the amendments would be included in the Comprehensive Plan amendment and some were included some were not, some votes were unanimous some were not. He noted that he did appreciate the assurance that Councilmember Kurak will not vote on her property. Julie Horn, 6031 - 145th Lane NW, Ramsey, stated that the Kurak piece of property has been contentious for some time. She stated that her whole neighborhood, when they purchased their homes, bought in good faith that they were in a single-family neighborhood. This is exactly how they want it to stay. Two years age when action was brought forth it included both Patti and Tom Kurak and now things say spouse. If it is in the family they should step down. She talked to Dan McGowan and the League of Cities and understands "conflict of interest" is questionable. She understands that the December 11 action was not formal, but hopes the public hearing is a true formal hearing where they can hear public input. She doesn't understand why they insist on changing the land use. If people request justification for the change then the Council has to provide that. She would like to know why it is better for their neighborhood to have a higher density. How would the change improve their community? Ms. Horn requested that the Kurak family rescind the amendment and keep the neighborhood single family as they have invested. Keith Kieffer, 6203 Rivlyn Street NW, Ramsey, stated that the action that was taken was to present the proposed changes to a public hearing, not to adopt any changes. If Councilmember Kurak were to have abstained from those votes on December 11, 2001, citizens would have been denied due process and exposed the City to a lawsuit. It was his understanding that Councihnember Kurak's actions were appropriate and saved the City from another potential lawsuit. City Attorney Goodrich noted that it has been determined that the action taken by Councihnember Kurak on December ! 1, 2001, was not a conflict of interest. Marguerite Henke inquired if they were saying that 13 landowners came before the Council and wanted to be part of the amendment. She inquired as to how many of the proposed changes will be included on the land use map. City Council/January 8, 2002 Page 23 of 27